Jason Kander, candidate for U.S. Senate, listened to small business owners in September, in St. Joseph, Missouri. A Capitol Hill newspaper ranked him as the candidate most likely to determine control of the Senate. Keith Myerskmyers@kcstar.com

Jason Kander, candidate for U.S. Senate, listened to small business owners in September, in St. Joseph, Missouri. A Capitol Hill newspaper ranked him as the candidate most likely to determine control of the Senate. Keith Myerskmyers@kcstar.com

“Operatives from both parties say the young secretary of state likely holds a small lead over the longtime politician Blunt, a remarkable development for a race that most analysts considered a second-tier contest when the summer began,” the Roll Call report said.

Roll Call said the tight race is “mostly thanks to the strength of Kander, the rare post-Obama Democrat whose military background and familiarity with guns has appeal to culturally conservative voters.”

Kander served in Afghanistan as an intelligence officer in the Army National Guard.

His campaign has tried to cast Blunt, a longtime lawmaker, as an out-of-touch Washington insider.

“Even Republicans admit it’s hard to build a strong case against (Kander), pointing to ads that do little more than call him an ally of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama,” according to Roll Call. “That kind of generic argument might not go far enough with voters.”